User blog:Steven Star/WWE2K15 Review
Wrestling games have been getting a rough time of it, but some of the most fun with this genre. WWE 2K15 is, sadly, not one of those games. It's not quite a travesty, but it's also certainly not the game wrestling fans were hoping for after the amazing game known as WWE2k14, not even on the Smackdown vs. Raw Series level. Please note that I’m only review the next generation version of WWE2k15 (PS4 and Xbone) I have never played the current generation on the PS3 and 360, nor the Mobiles version. Let’s just a head on. Anyway... For the next generation console, it looks fantastic. WWE 2K15 is another game that makes great use of head-scanning technology that made every wrestlers looks exactly as they do in real life, exactly as they did in real life about nine months ago. This game is forced on a tumultuous year for WWE, in which there have been redundancies and big name departures. I’m not personal bother. While it’s feel like a frustratingly out of date roster, having wrestlers like CM Punk and Alberto Del Rio, even after walking out of the sport months ago is scarified to have in the game instead of using CAWs. (There’s also Rey Mysterio, but he’s left at 2015). Beside, I don’t want WWE2k15’s roster to be even more smaller. Speaking of which, roster is small compeer to WWE2K14. 69 Superstars are playing, with 7 Retro Superstars, 6 NXT Superstars, 8 Divas. It’s maybe nothing, but with the large roster WWE2K14 and other SvR games, this was weak. =-= They're just the first in a long line of clues that WWE's new custodians don't care quite as much about the product as its forebear did. (I.e Goldust doesn't have his trademark entrance, despite it having been in wrestling games for years now.) Another prove is that you can't hold a submission move on after a rope break, in classic heel fashion, even though you could in the past. Bad News Barrett is announced as hailing from Preston, then in commentary referred to as coming from Manchester, showing that old voice-over work has been reused without a second thought. These are little things that proves that there were a lack of attention paid and care taken with WWE 2K15 development. Wrestling games before looking stupid, with your grappler flailing at nothing then falling over their feet, but they were at least fun. WWE 2K15 plays like a series of animations that you trigger and often it hardly feels like you're triggering them. There are blind spots within the game as well. There’re places where it can be hard to grab or punch from, or angles you can't return to the ring from. That's bad, and it makes it no fun to play for any extended period. What's really disappointing is that none of these are the results of new features. All of the stuff that's been handled perfectly well in the past are now iterations of this very series. It's the fact that so much has been crocked and crippled that 15’s. Not even the matches are fun anymore. Matches like Ladder matches and 2 out of 3 Falls are not in the game, and match like Tag Team, Triple Threat, Fatal 4 Way lack any fun their have with any previous game. *Tag Team only have Normal and Elimination matches *Triple Threat only have Normal, Extreme Rules, and Hell in a Cell matches *Fatal-4-Way only have Normal and Extreme Rules matches Even the Royal Rumble is stuck into 30-man Royal Rumble, compeer to 40-man Royal Rumble on WWE12 to WWE2k14. Tournaments are downgraded as well, with only 8 superstars being allow to face each other in Gold Rush, Tag Team, and even King of the Ring. Again WWE13 and WWE2K14 allow you to have up to 16 superstars to each tournaments. The only type of matches that was fine in 6-Man Matches, like Tag Team, Elimination Tag, Battle Royale, Elimination Chamber, Money in the Bank, and Hell in the Cell. Other than that, nothing really special here. WWE 2K15 added back season mode in the form of My Career in the PS4 and Xbone, which was of the best timesinks in Smackdown vs. Raw's series was to put hours into building up your character, taking them through storylines and making them into a World Champion. It's a simple formula, and the soap opera dramatics of wrestling makes for something that translates perfectly to the a video game. But it's gone really wrong. How did it’s failed? The plot of MyCareer is that your create-a-superstars enter the Performer Center, with your tryout match against Barron “Blondy Green” Blade. After a few hits, you lose via submission after Barron put you on the Boston Crab, before your trainer, Bill DeMoit stop Barron and You. You’re then gain a contact as a Superstars because you well good, despite losing. You goal is to gain NXT all of the way up to WWE’s main show, Monday Night Raw and became a legend. Inconsistencies and irritations abound, this whole story mode blow. There are very few storylines to get involved in; as you, the player, are instead put into most of the action in matches with irrelevant opponents. It barely even mixes up what style of match they are with MyCareer Mode. You whole entire career saw a grand total of about 10 bouts that weren't basic one-on-ones. It is, as with so much else, an area where WWE 2K15 feels half-baked. Oh, and let not get into the pointless Barron Blade’s rivalry, he’s just hate you for somewhere. Oh, and don’t even get me start with being told you've lost your belt when you haven’t, like after winning the NXT Championship or Intercontinental Championship. The only way you want to play this mode is the unlock several NXT superstars, such as Sami Zayn and Adrain Neville. (Which can be even end up being tedious like the NXT Arena and William Regal.) For more detailed with MyCareer, see this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSS_X1SxoBM Universe Mode return back and it’s somehow good. My problem with the way its initially set up is the fact that the rosters are split up HORRIBLY and the game haphazardly books crappy cards that you wouldn't see in real life. So maybe if you're a nerd like me and want to see the game resemble realistic booking but still maintain the sense of surprise that comes with random cutscenes that separates Universe from just doing Exhibition matches. You start with Raw and Smackdown, along with Main Event. You can change, add, and even delete the shows and PPV. You default titles are WWE Championship, United Status Championship (For Raw), Intercontinental Championship (For Smackdown) WWE Tag Team Championship, and The Divas Championship. You can also change the titles, as unlike WWE2K15, every old titles are unlock not just for WWE, but also WCW and ECW. The drawback being that the NXT Title (World, Tag Title, and Divas) need to be unlock able. Another issues is, again, the bad booking in each show and PPV. While Universe Mode is a fun time, it’s starting to lack any sense of direction. (PS. Daniel Bryan is the best US Championship in my Universe Mode, beating Batista on a Submission Match on main evert in Payback.) Creation mode, one on the most staple of the Smackdown Vs. Raw series, also falls short sadly. There's no ability to create female wrestlers. They're clearly irrelevant, since not only is the Divas division have only 8 (10 if you count DLC Divas like Paige and Emma). You're also unable to make the kind of bizarre character that's made previous games, which made player creativity matters in a game like this. Even creating a intro is downgraded, as you can only use of entrance being the superstars who are in roster. The only thing didn’t suffer with issues is the create a movesets. While making a finisher is gone, developing your own moveset is a great use. Credit where this game is due, the clear effort gone into some elements within this game, such as the 2K Showcase mode. In this other story mode, you get to take part in two of the WWE's biggest feuds this century: Triple H vs Shawn Michaels of 2002 to 2004, and John Cena vs. CM Punk of 2011 to 2013. They're well presented, some of the in-match objectives are fun , as you'll know if you played WWE 13 or WWE 2K14, which included thematically similar modes, and it's always good to go on a trip down memory lane. The only issues of 2K Showcase is, again, the tedious of each rivaling, with 14 matches in HHH vs. HBK and 19 matches in Cena vs. Punk. There's also fun to be had in multiplayer. Just so long as you aren't playing online, that is. A small but noticeable amount of lag means that any of the matches you have against online opponents. Ones that mean very little thanks to the very basic online setup are incredibly difficult to play properly. Counters are tricky to time correctly, and the'hold X and release it at the right moment' system for kicking out of pins is near-enough impossible with that slight mistiming. Since we’re near the end, I guess I should mention the DLC of WWE2k15. Each DLC packs are broken down into separate sections, complete with what each superstars, arena, and new parts for the 2K Showcase. Hulk Hogan and The Icon Sting are single DLC superstars, as well as NXT Arrival and WCW being Multiple Superstars Pack. All three 2K Showcase are show: *One More Matches focused on the rivalry between WWE Superstars Randy Orton and Christian in 2011 for the World Heavyweight Championship. *The Hall of Pain focused on the top matches with WWE Superstar, Mark Henry, in 2011, as well as 2013. *The Path of the Warrior focused on the career of the late, great, WWE Hall of Famer Ultimate Warrior. (1959 - 2014 :,( ) Overall, the DLC are fine. A bit annoyed that superstars like Edge and Christian, who was in WWE12 to WWE2k14 normally, are now DLC, but it's OK. I say OK because of a major error in the game. There’s an error that's something in the long the lines of the data could not be loaded because the downloaded content didn't match and couldn’t be downloaded. This will stop the game until you started over a new game. Like this gems: This happen when I download One More Match and after reseting, I refused to buy more DLC. As well as I want to play with Hall of Pain and The Path of the Warrior, and played more Superstars, the issues of reseting my game still hold. This is worse when you unlock most of superstars in 2K Showcase and even MyCareer, thou for some reason, your MyCareer is still fine. If you want the DLC, please buy the Season Pass first before playing the game. Trust me, you can even get the lovely Paige. :D Overall, WWE 2K15 is a kick in the teeth. While, Graphically assured as it is, almost every other element of the 15-year-old series has been cut back, tampered with pointlessly or outright ruined. The roster is the weakest out of the SvR’s series, MyCareer was a disappointment after so much hype, Universe Mode can be fun if you don’t really care, and creation mode is so lacking, it’s hurt. The The series hasn't been good for a long time now, but this year is the first it's been actively bad. Personally buy the Season Pass before heading in….or wait until WWE2k16 is release late October. :l Category:Blog posts